Christian Art And Architecture Of Classical Rome

Late Roman Empire Art only lasted for a short extent of time. During which many changes occurred in art, predominantly changes to sculpture. This change was a moving away from sculpture being meant for a particular person to sculpture being for the people of the Roman Empire.

Early Christian and Byzantine art started after Jesusí death in the first century ranging and ending to the fourth century AD. The art produced during this period was secretive because Christianity was not a formal religion but as a cult; the Romans and rest of Europe persecuted Christians so the artist disguised their work with symbols and hints of Christian aspects. Christianity was the first cult to not involve rituals of sacrifice of animals and refused to worship an Emperor causing the Roman Empire to make Christianity illegal. Byzantine art excelled in the Justinian period in the east during 520-540 AD. The art was produced in Ravenna, Byzantine, Venice, Sicily, Greece, and Russia. The

The Christian Church was absolutely instrumental in the art of the Renaissance. It was the driving force behind every inspiration; without the Church, there would have been no art. The Church was the only institution powerful enough to be able to support the commissions of all of the artwork, and it was the only institution, in which people had enough faith and devotion to spend so much of their time and money creating pieces that—although beautiful—were not necessities. The role of religion in art actually began during the Byzantine era. During this time, all artwork was religious in nature, and most of it was done in a consistently similar style so that figures from the Bible could be easily recognized by everyone and so that people

One of the ways that the Roman Empire influenced the world was through Architecture and

Construction was a big part of the Roman Empire, justinian created cities the were not here previously (Document 1). One major structure was the Hagia Sophia, a beauty through rays of light. Anyone that stepped foot in the dome shaped church would understand that it just wasn't built by human strength but also by god (Document 4).

Religion played a key role in the daily life and social system of Ancient Rome. Religion included the worship of many gods and more gods were often adopted from conquered areas. Because most religions were polytheist at the time, the Romans rarely disallowed a cult from a conquered region to continue. A few cults ran into controversy and opposition from citizens or government, such as the cult of Deus Sol Invictus, and that of Isis. Romans were also not keen on monotheistic religion which explains their separation from the Jews. But above all other religions, the Romans disagreed with, persecuted and were threatened most by Christianity.  The introduction of Christianity to the Roman Empire

During the Renaissance new ideas were gained and the values and features of the Classical World were brought back through art and architecture. Before the Renaissance began, art and architecture was done inside the church and was mostly on biblical themes, but this

The legal, cultural, and structural developments during the Roman Empire (753 BCE- 476 CE) have had an effect on Western civilization. Influenced by the ideals of the ancient Greeks, the empire lived through many worldwide transformations that changed the way in which emperors governed and ruled the Roman people, and these adaptations can be seen in the style of artwork in each Roman reign. One of the most notable changes in art style is in the Late Empire Period, during the third and fourth centuries, where the change in government, from imperial rule to the tetrarchy, led artists to focus on the message of the piece rather than the individual represented, and become more abstract and geometric rather than classical and individualistic.[footnoteRef:1] Another notable period of change was under Constantine I, who overthrew the tetrarchy, and was the first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity. [1: Marilyn Stokstad and Michael W. Cothren, Art History. 4th ed., Vol 1 (London: Laurence King Publishing, 2011), 207.]

With the adoption of Christianity as the official religion, art was able, so to speak, to come above ground in the old pagan city of Rome, and painting, instead of being restricted to the decoration of the walls of the Catacombs or of small chambers and chapels, came into use on a large scale in the new churches that were at once set up. At the same time patronage moved from the hands of the poorer classes to the richer, and artists of outstanding quality came to be employed as well as those of obscurer character, who would work for small fees (www.religion-online.org). To wall painting was added the more luxurious art of mosaic; numerous sculptures were done, and minor objects, often in expensive materials, were in addition produced in the service of the Church, so that art production became at the same time both more extensive and more luxurious (www.religion-online.org ).

Many centuries before the birth of Christ, the city of Rome grew, prospered, and developed into a thriving Republic. As in most cultures, Rome's buildings became more elaborate and impressive. They developed fantastic building technologies and ideas. The feats of Roman engineers were groundbreaking, and many structures built by this culture still stand today. With knowledge borrowed from the Greeks, Rome made impressive architectural achievements, these were namely major attributes of buildings, colossal structures, and a legacy that would influence later buildings (Cornell and Matthews 11).

The Jewish community started Christianity, but Christianity later spread and convert from all over the Greco-Roman world were attracted by this religion during the progress of the first century CE. Ideas, traditions, ways of worship and traditions were brought along by the new convert of Christianity and it was adopted by their faith. This is through art because Christians who were once pagans of the Roman Empire stick to their artistic heritage when they became followers of Jesus Christ. Roman artistic forms and motifs and also Roman architecture were being used by this new convert to express their new faith. In further explanation, we’ll see how Roman art influenced the developing art of early Christians.

There are many similarities and differences between Classical Roman and Early Christian Art. What particularly stands out to me is how much these two cultures have in common when it comes to their art and architecture. Romans were geniuses when it came to engineering and we can see that in the monuments they left behind. Many early Christian architectural styles and ideas were adopted straight from the Romans. Their communities became organized geographically much like those of the Roman provincial governments. Christian cultural styles derived straight from Roman visual traditions. Early Christian art features the adoption of Roman art forms for Christian purposes. Their art also featured

When Christianity was introduced as a successor to Judaism, Roman Empire’s official religion was still Paganism. As a result Christianity was a mystery religion in Roman Empire before it became an official Religion. In this period we do not see any churches, and people used to gather in a secret place in order to pray. These places were like ordinary homes, but they changed inside, so it could be used for religion purposes. A really good example of it is Dura Europos house church. It has a simple architecture, as we can see they even broke the wall inside the house to make it bigger as to serve gatherings. After Constantine declared Christianity as an official religion, everything changed. In this essay I aim to discuss how Roman art became Christian Art. In other words, I will explain how Romans used their art and style as a formula to create art based on Christianity principals.

The early church was hated by the society and government of the Roman Empire for various reasons, such as the refusal of Christians to sacrifice to the gods. The Empire went through many phases of demanding that the Christians sacrifice which meant denying their faith or be killed. The earliest attacks claimed the lives of many of the apostles.This text is the story, from around 160 AD, of the martyrdom of Polycarp, the Bishop of the church in Smyrna, a city in Asia Minor (modern Izmir in Turkey) devoted to Roman worship. The account is in the form of a letter from eye-witnesses to other churches in the area. It is the earliest chronicle of a martyrdom outside the New Testament.Polycarp was an old man, at least 86, and probably the last surviving person to have known an apostle, having been a disciple of St. John. This was one reason he was greatly revered as a teacher and church leader. One interesting feature of the letter is that the writer is very conscious of how Polycarp’s death followed the pattern of Christ’s. As you read it, look for parallels between this story and the Easter story in the gospels. We are writing to you, brothers, with an account of the martyrs, especially the blessed Polycarp, whose death brought to the persecution to a close. Almost all the events that led up to it reveal it to be another martyrdom in the divine pattern that we see in the Gospel. For he waited for his betrayal, just like the Lord did, so that we might follow him, in looking out

Religion was a huge motivator for both of these periods, and held deep emotional connections for many artists. I find this to be somewhat relatable, since I also need emotional attachment as a motivator to complete my artwork sometimes. These designs resemble those of today in the amount of effort and forethought put into planning and building them, however, the complexity of these older religious structures lies in the artistic and visual nature of the building, rather than the efficiency-related accomodations one would observe today. This demonstrates the metamorphosis of human priorities over the centuries. Both of the images to be discussed (Temple of Hera II and Palatine Chapel) speak to the